


Giving Gifts

by Kaddi



Category: Kingdom Hearts, Klaus (2019)
Genre: Christmas, Established Relationship, Fluff, For the most part at least, M/M, POV: Sora, if you've read my other fics you know this will get Very Sappy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:55:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21971713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaddi/pseuds/Kaddi
Summary: (minor spoilers for the movie Klaus!!)"The winding road before them leads higher up the mountain. To their sides, chasms cut deep into the stone, leading far, far down. Snow has taken a hold of everything, even of them in the short time they've been here. In the crisp air his breath comes out in little white puffs, unable to warm his hands. Of course they forgot their coats,again, because they didn't know their destination would be this cold, again."---Sora and Riku, visiting the world of a certain postman and a toymaker
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 51





	Giving Gifts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fauxstales](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fauxstales/gifts).



> Inspired by [this](https://twitter.com/TheFauxsynder/status/1196624336129576960) wonderful art by Faux, who I gifted this to!

The winding road before them leads higher up the mountain. To their sides, chasms cut deep into the stone, leading far, far down. Snow has taken a hold of everything, even of them in the short time they've been here. In the crisp air his breath comes out in little white puffs, unable to warm his hands. Of course they forgot their coats, _again_ , because they didn't know their destination would be this cold, _again_ , but the view is beautiful and Riku has that smile he only wears when it's just the two of them.

"Hey, you there?"

Sora whirls around. Behind them – now in front of them – is a man in a blue uniform on a horse-drawn carriage, giving them a lazy wave while his chin rests on his other hand like he's been waiting for them to notice him.

"Now that I have your attention could you," he swipes right, "move aside?"

"Huh?" In his awe of the scenery he had quite forgotten that they're blocking the road. Honestly, he hadn’t even thought to qualify this path as a “road”. Only their footsteps disturbed the otherwise untouched snow. "Oh, sure!"

"Great. I'll be on my way then."

However, Sora can't let this opportunity slip through his fingers, not when it’s the first sign of other human life that has found them in this desolate mountain landscape. So he casually approaches the horse and begins petting it - thankfully, it lets him without complaint.

"Where are you headed?" he asks the driver.

Instead of answering his question, the driver covers his face with his hand.

"You're not from around here, are you," he says drily. To himself, he mutters "I forgot how exhausting this is..." Then, before Sora can reply to any of that, he adds, "Don't bother. Look, I'm on a schedule. The toys won't deliver themselves."

"Toys?" Sora looks to Riku, who shrugs, equally clueless.

"Yeah? The only person who lives out here is that old toymaker, Klaus. You don't know that?"

"Klaus? And toys?" Sora gasps. Now all of this makes sense. "You're visiting Santa Klaus!?"

"Huh, I always thought Klaus was his first name..." He shakes his head. "See here, kid -"

"It's Sora! Let us help!"

"- there's nothing you can – wait a second, what did you say?"

"We could help!"

Next to him, Riku, who so far has deliberately not participated in conversation (he gets grumpy when he's cold) and instead stared off into space, crashes back into it by blurting out "What."

Sora turns to him, holding his hand over his mouth to whisper. "This is our chance to meet this world's Santa!! Please?"

"Really, Sora?"

"C'mon, Riku. Pretty please?"

Riku looks him in the eyes for a moment longer, then sighs and shakes his head, his resistance melting easily. "If he takes us."

Sora cheers quietly, then turns to the driver, who watched the exchange with a raised eyebrow.

"We can carry stuff. We're strong!" To demonstrate it, Sora flexes his arms.

The driver's eyes flit to Riku's bare biceps, which is very rude. He’s not any weaker just cause his muscles aren’t that big.

"I can see that..."

They wait patiently while the driver works through some internal conflict.

"Well then, I didn't catch your names. I am Jesper Johanssen. And you are?"

"I'm Sora! And that's my best friend Riku!"

Riku nods in greeting. However, Jesper keeps looking at them expectantly, waiting for something. Sora doesn't know what, so he beams at him until Jesper pinches his nose.

"Lovely. Just lovely. Alright, Sora, Riku. First order of business: getting you appropriate clothes."

  
  


It takes some rearranging but then they're all settled on the carriage's seat, Jesper squished between them as he's the one holding the reins.

Jesper grumbles and complains, about them and the delay they caused at first, then, after some prodding, about the town – Smeerensburg, it's called – that he came from.

("They have a Battle Bell. A _Battle Bell_. You don't even need to know more."

"Then why are you going through the effort to hand out toys?"

"Agh, kids like you wouldn't understand."

"Don't call us kids."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever.")

The drive isn't long before snow-covered stone makes way for snow-covered trees, which in turn eventually split to reveal a snow-covered wooden house. The house is so tall, the person calling it home must be a giant, taller than even Riku. Only a little way off stands another house, wooden like the first. "The workshop," Jesper points out. So that's where the magic happens.

"Where's Santa Klaus?" Sora asks excitedly when Jesper parks their carriage and squeezes past Riku to get off.

"Probably chopping wood again," Jesper replies. "You stay here, I'll get him. Be ready, he is very intimidating and does not like fear."

"Okay?" Sora and Riku say in unison.

Jesper frowns and opens his mouth to say something, but thinks better of it and trudges away, past the birches spreading out to their left. They wait until he is out of view before they hop off the seat.

There's not much to do while they wait for Jesper to fetch Santa. As much as he'd love to explore the house (and get out of the cold wind), Riku stopped him with a shake of his head, though Sora can tell he's just as eager to move by the way he keeps shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

So Sora busies himself with getting to know the horse.

"Aren't you a good fella?" he coos, petting it. "Thank you for taking us all the way here!"

The horse sighs happily. Riku sighs, too. He remained a respectable distance away, so it's almost lost to the wind. Sora turns around, leaning against the horse, to look at him.

"Had I known you'd lead us here, I'd have worn warmer clothes."

"Say that to my heart. This is the last time I pick the world." He sighs again, leaning forward a bit and putting his hands on his hips. "Wasn't meeting one Santa enough?"

Sora purses his lips. It's true that he dragged Riku to visit Santa in Christmas Town – one of the first worlds they visited together, actually – and yeah, Santa had some choice words for Riku about "stealing his wonder" or something, but they were said with kindness, so overall, their visit went over without much trouble.

"I think we should meet ALL the Santas we can."

Riku cracks a smile. "Of course you'd say that."

Sora smiles back. "I'm sure this one will like you more. We never met before so I couldn't tell him about you yet." 

Hopefully not _every_ Santa knows every child on every world. That’d be a bit creepy - and, would they know about each other, the existence of other Santas? How do they decide about jurisdictions and … actually, he’d rather not think about that right now.

"Thanks, Sora. I'm sure this 'intimidating' Santa will love me."

"I'm sure he just said that because he's so small. I bet this Santa is _huge_."

Finally, Riku laughs, stepping closer to Sora, who closes the rest of the distance between them. He cups Riku's face, about to lean in to steal a kiss, when Riku opens his big mouth. 

"You'd know, huh, half-pint?"

"Hey!" He puffs his cheeks in played indignation, though that easily slips away when Riku laughs again. Still, he raises his hands and wiggles his fingers threateningly. "Watch what you say."

Riku catches his hands in his and plants a kiss on his forehead. Giggling, Sora squirms away from his cold lips. It's not easy with Riku holding his hands, so he tries to sidestep and backstep his way out of more cold kisses. The wind leaves its own kiss on the spot on his forehead, even colder.

Their little game carries them up the porch, where dry wood replaces the crunch of the snow. So caught up in their own little world, they barely even notice, laughing and giggling with each other. Until Sora's back lands against the door with a thud, where he belatedly realizes that he is trapped. His head swivels left and right as he searches for a way to escape, but Riku has already gotten too close.

"Riku, have mercy!" he cries, pressing himself against the door to put some more precious millimeters between himself and Riku's cold lips.

Riku doesn't have mercy, merely cackles at his predicament. Thankfully, the door is a bit kinder, as it decides to open at just this moment. The last thing he sees is Riku's shocked face before he falls backwards, calmed by the knowledge that thanks to their linked hands Riku is sure to follow - like always - and that it is also thanks to that that he can't catch himself to avoid falling. The things he does for love.

Only, the impact never happens. Moments into his fall, strong hands grab his shoulders and steady him, though it's far enough to make Riku stumble. Sora quickly rights himself and turns to face who saved him.

Towering over him _and_ Riku, he is a man of imposing height. Sora has to tilt his head back to be able to see his face, which is hidden by an impressive white beard. His clothes are a wooden brown, suited for the winter weather. Though he is missing the traditional red outfit Sora has come to expect, there is no doubt about who this person is.

"Santa Klaus!" Sora exclaims, shaking his and Riku's hands in excitement.  
  


At his words, Riku stiffens, looking up with wide eyes like he expects Santa to start berating him this very second. Santa, instead, looks from one to the other, his eyes falling to their bare, shivering arms.

"Come in," he says, stepping aside to let them in even with confusion lingering in his face.

Inside it smells like all kinds of wood – the freshly cut wood gathered in wickerbaskets, firewood stacked next to a stone furnace, the furniture made out of wood.

Santa hands them a blanket and guides them to a spot directly in front of the furnace, before leaving them with a curt "Wait here." Thanks to their enchanted clothes Sora hadn’t noticed how cold it actually is outside. The warmth sends pleasant shivers up and down his spine. He plops down on the ground and tugs at Riku's hand until he sits down as well. Riku slumps against his shoulder with a quiet groan and rests his head on Sora's as they watch the dying embers in the hearth.

"If Santa's here, who's Jesper searching for?"

"Probably thought Santa's outside," Riku points out. "He did mention something about chopping wood."

Ah. Sora had already forgotten about that.

As if those words summoned him, the door slams open and the cold wind comes rushing in to ruffle their hair. At the threshold stands Jesper, red-faced from the cold, both arms splayed on the doorframe. He hangs in the door for several moments, catching his breath, before he briefly takes off his hat to comb back his hair with his hands. Sora and Riku watch silently as he stalks into the room, a lot quieter than his entrance was. When he spots them, he stops dead in his tracks and points at them.

"There you are!"

"Here we are," Riku answers.

"There they are," Santa Klaus adds.

With barely concealed sounds of surprise everyone whips around to stare at Santa. For someone of his stature, he moves as silently as the snowfall. He stands a couple steps away from them, two overcoats slung over his arm and a tray with three steaming cups in hand. Riku immediately scrambles to his feet, not wanting to seem rude, and drags Sora up with him. He is squeezing Sora's hand a bit too strongly, but he doesn't mind.

"K-Klaus!" Jesper exclaims. He glances over to them, sporting a grimace that's likely meant to be a grin. "I see you've already met the kids. Kids, this is Mr. Klaus. Be nice."

"It's _Sora,"_ he says. He turns to Santa with a bright grin. "Hi, Santa!!"

Riku squares his shoulders. "I'm Riku."

Jesper clears his throat. " _Anyway_ , they wanted to help out today, and how could I – what are you doing?"

Santa pushes the tray into his hands. He hands one overcoat – a soft morning blue – to Riku and the other one – a gentle berry red – to Sora.

"Put them on."

They share a quick glance and nod to each other.

"Thank you!" Sora says.

"T-Thank you, Sir," Riku says, holding the coat close to his chest.

They scramble to put them on. It's too big on Sora, extending well past his hands and ending shortly above his knees, but it’s heavy and comfortable. On the other hand, it fits Riku perfectly. The soft white fuzz lining the seams perfectly cradles his face when he buttons it up. Santa nods, pleased. There may even be a tiny smile hidden under that beard – Sora is _sure_ he didn't imagine the way it softened his eyes. Klaus pats their heads, then wordlessly moves past them and heads outside.

Next to them, Jesper barely holds onto the tray, his mouth hanging open and his finger held aloft.

"Congrats. I... I think he likes you."

"You think?" Riku asks, his voice coated in wonder as he tugs at his new garment.

Sora stands on his tiptoes and cups his hand around his mouth. Riku naturally bends down a bit without even thinking about it.

"I told you this Santa would be different."

Riku glances at him and smiles, which does funny things to Sora's heart.

Jesper clears his throat and shakes himself, quickly regaining his composure.

"Let's drink our..." he peers at the mugs "... warm milk and then get to work."

By the time Jesper leads them out to the other house, where the workshop and the storage are, Sora is tingly with the warmth dancing around his heart. Riku lost some of the tension that froze him stiff, his hand gently holding onto Sora's without urgency or worry. Even as he squints against the wind blowing in his eyes, his face remains frown-less. When Sora bumps their shoulders together, Riku looks at him and huffs fondly, softly knocking his head against Sora's. It's almost a bit too much, what he's feeling, and he's not listening to Jesper's chatter at _all_ , but it's fine. Riku will fill him in, will have his back like he always does.

Rows of shelves filled with all kinds of toys greet them. Like everything around here, they are made of wood, details lovingly carved into them, each one placed on its spot with care obvious despite the layer of dust lying over everything. Almost as if they have been forgotten and only recently rediscovered. They fall quiet as they take it all in, only the occasional hitch of breath audible when something catches their eyes.

Riku places a brown sack between them, and Sora watches him pick up a small boat, tracing along its curves with his fingers. Recently, Riku took to collecting driftwood and, on occasion, carving it into simple shapes. Taking something dead, something misplaced, and turning it into new life. A smile blooms on Riku's face, so small, so fond, he must not be aware of it at all. Their eyes meet when Riku bends down to put it away and Sora has to blink away tears that suddenly pool in his eyes. He blindly picks up a toy, a family of birds connected by a cord. Though he can't admire the craftsmanship quite like Riku, he can feel the love that went into its creation. He closes his eyes and gently touches one of the bird's heads with his forehead to, in a way, add his own. He puts it next to Riku's and this time when they look at each other, Riku blinks a bit too fast, before Sora's smile joins his.

All too quickly - the sun has barely moved from its place in the sky since they started working - a row of neatly packed sacks lie behind the carriage where Santa Klaus waited for them, ready to do the heavy lifting.

Riku quickly and silently offers his help, which Santa accepts with a nod. Sora wants to help, too, but Riku shoos him away with a shake of his head and a nod towards Santa – they've got it handled. So instead he stays back with Jesper and watches. That's just as well.

Although there's nothing special about the way Riku moves, the overcoat he’s wearing makes it incredibly endearing. Sora finds himself captivated by him. 

Over the years the simple happiness that blooms in his heart when he gets to be by Riku's side hasn't lessened one bit. And knowing Riku feels the same way, in the smiles, in the laughter, in the soft eyes and softer words, makes him positively giddy (more than meeting Santa could ever make him) – all he has to do is remember it and a smile appears on his face, so big he has to squint.

Next to him, Jesper crosses his arms and fake-gags discreetly, looking at Sora out of the corner of his eye.

"Man, kid, you're in deep."

"Huh?" Sora startles and shakes his head to return to a world that is not only him and Riku. "What?"

Jesper jerks a thumb at Riku. "Just don't let me catch you smooching, you hear? We're at work, so no PDA."

Immediately, Sora's face heats up and colours a wonderful tomato-red. He waves his hands and sputters, unable to deny it – mostly because he realizes that he would very much like to smooch Riku right now. Jesper raises an eyebrow, clearly not impressed by his subpar efforts of communication. After another moment of Sora making a fool of himself (high-pitched laughter joined his sputtering), Riku calls his name. Grateful for the distraction, Sora turns to him with the biggest smile on his face.

Jesper drags a hand down his face. "See, that's what I'm talking about," he mutters as Sora bounds over to his best friend.

  
  


Trying to fit all of them on the small carriage seat turns out to be a real challenge. No matter how much they squeeze together or how much Riku looks like he wants to disappear, they just don’t fit. Sora tried sitting on Riku's lap, and even then they're still at least half a Riku short of space.

"We could ride the horse?" Sora suggests, but that is quickly shut down.

"May as well climb the sacks," Riku responds drily.

“You’re a genius.”

So they end up scrambling up the stack of bags tied to the back of the carriage, clinging to them like flying squirrels.

"We're ready!" Sora shouts.

However, then the next problem presents itself: The horse makes a valiant effort, but the carriage doesn't budge. 

"Too heavy," Santa says gruffly.

Riku jumps down. "I'll stay, then." Typical. Always the first to volunteer to stay behind.

His heart is heavy, albeit not as inexpressibly heavy as it would be without Riku so he joins him. When Riku offers him his hand, Sora grips it tightly.

"We'll stay," he says. He was looking forward to handing out presents with Santa. Another time, maybe. Donald would chide them for getting too involved, anyway.

"Sorry, kids," Jesper says at the same time that Santa slips off the seat and trudges to the back of the carriage. Riku tenses and squares his shoulders again, but Santa passes them and starts pulling off one sack after the other.

"What are you doing?" Jesper asks disbelievingly.

"Less presents, less weight."

"Less presents?" Sora and Jesper echo. Spurred on by those words, Jesper throws himself on the next sack Santa was about to lift.

"But less presents means less letters, and less letters means less..." during his rapid-fire speech, he put his hand on Santa Klaus's chest as though to push him away. When he realizes this he thinks better of it and instead folds his hands to then hold them up to his face in a pleading gesture. "...more children's dreams being shattered."

"You can't do that!" Sora says. "Choosing between them wouldn't be fair."

Jesper enthusiastically motions to Sora. "Yeah, yeah!" He throws himself back on the sack. "No. No, no, no, I won't allow it. We have a sworn duty to the children."

If he cares about the children this much, then maybe Jesper has a softer heart than he let on. Sora still doesn't like his insistence on calling Riku and him "kids" when he knows their names, but he can accept that. Still, that leaves the problem of getting all the presents to wherever the town is.

Riku points with the hand not holding Sora's. "How about them?"

They follow his gaze. Grazing not too far away from them is a small herd of reindeer that look too fluffy to be real, and, more importantly, very sturdy; Also they're the traditional Christmas animals – he knew Riku wouldn't forget that.

Jesper smirks. "Let's do it."

"Let's go!" Sora cheers.

For all their enthusiasm, the reindeer aren't caught that easily. Jesper and Sora charge at them, one with grim determination, the other with childish glee which – okay, in hindsight, wasn't the best idea. The reindeer scatter, though not particularly worried, more like they're simply moving out of the way of a bumbling insect.

Then Sora notices that Riku isn't at his side and he has to go back and get him.

"I'm fine," Riku says with his arms crossed, inching a bit closer to Santa Klaus. "You go on."

Sora lightly tugs at his arms. No way he was leaving him here. "It's more fun with you, though!"

"You know animals don't like me."

"Sven _loved_ you. These guys are reindeer, too."

Riku blinks. "While that _is_ true, I don't think that changes much."

Sora tugs again and this time Riku uncrosses his arms. "That's your problem: thinking too much! I want you there."

"You won't let me say no, will you?" he asks with a fond huff and a little smile.

Sora grins back. "Not if you stay here sulking! At least try!"

"Alright, I give in. Lead the way."

Sora cheers. "Love you!"

Riku's smile widens until he has to squint. "I love you, too."

  
  
  


As usual, Sora gets distracted so easily. Once Riku got him to quiet down a bit, the reindeer let them approach and eventually, allowed them to pet them. Sora began showering 'his' reindeer with compliments and affection, until a second one approached him and began nibbling on his hair, so Sora had to split his attention between them. Then, when Jesper loudly complained about Sora's natural talent, he offered to teach him – however that works, Riku doesn't know. Soon, the clearing fills with Sora's loud laughter as the reindeer continue to evade Jesper. So much for catching them.

Riku sighs fondly, watching the spectacle for a moment. He doesn't mind, not really. Nothing wrong with playing around a little, especially when it makes Sora look like this, doubled over because he’s laughing too hard. Once upon a time it would have stirred some ugly feelings inside him that Sora's attention is so easily taken off him, but now? There's nothing of that sort in his heart, even when sometimes he waits for it to come back. He's just happy that he gets to share in Sora's life like this.

Of to the side, he spots one of the reindeer watching him, away from the rest of the herd. He tilts his head and lifts a hand in invitation, not really expecting a reaction. After a moment’s consideration, it comes closer and sniffs his hand, pushing its nostrils against it. It tickles and Riku can't help laughing quietly.

"Want to come with me?" he asks and takes a step back. To his surprise, it follows him. Even when he takes another step, the reindeer closes the distance and presses its nostrils back against his hand.

Like that he slowly makes his way over to Klaus, who is already waiting for him. He shows him how to harness the reindeer, and the bit of feed he has collected to lure in the other ones. Sora and Jesper don't notice them quietly catching the other reindeer they need, too caught up in entertaining themselves. When the team is assembled, they re-tie the sacks Klaus took down, and when that is done as well, they lean against the carriage.

"You've made a good choice," Klaus says.

Riku tears his gaze from Sora to look at him. "What do you mean?"

Klaus nods towards Sora. Oh. Riku smiles, and he has seen his face in enough of Sora's photos to know that right now he looks absolutely besotted. He huffs fondly, doesn't even try to hold back the words that bloom on his tongue.

"Sora can find the brightest part of anything. And... he found the brightest part in me, when I couldn't. It's always been him."

Klaus chuckles quietly and pats Riku's shoulder.

When, eventually, Sora and Jesper join them, they pile back on the carriage. The mood is jolly and warm with the anticipation of delivering the presents and inspiring the same happiness lifting their hearts.

**Author's Note:**

> Me, writing Jesper: "Who is this sassy... young man."  
> Jesper talks with his hands a lot which I love but it's a bit hard to write and integrate it into the fic.  
> Anyway, thank you for reading!! It's been a while since I wrote something longer, I hope I did the characters justice.


End file.
